Keynote: Do we need democracy to have rights?

Saturday, 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM, Auditorium

We expect that in a democratic state human rights are enshrined in the constitution of that state. But how does it look in real life today and what is the connection between democracy and the protection of our rights? Do we all have access to the same rights as we should? In this keynote the background and short history of human rights will be explored as well as the contemporary pressure on civil and human rights. Is it radical to speak up for human rights today as the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau once said and what is it that we can do as citizens as humans to stand up for our rights? Human rights are part of our daily lives and nothing abstract, they concern us daily whether we are queer, an ecological activist, a teacher, a blogger or feminist.

Speaker

Daphne Büllesbach

Daphne Büllesbach is Executive Director of European Alternatives, a Europe-wide civil society organization devoted to exploring and developing the potential for transnational politics and culture. She is also curator of the bi-annual Transeuropa Festival, an arts, culture and politics festival and she co-edited the reader Shifting Baselines of Europe: new perspectives beyond neo-liberalism and nationalism was published at transcript in May 2017.